Look at the situation he was put in games 1-4. He's the ONLY player out there for Miami to load up on and he's trying to either take quick pg's off the dribble or shoot over the bigs on the switch. Tonight, he was put in a situation to be successful. He's not the only focus of Miami's defense, he has guys around him who can drive/shoot/pass and he's so much more effective. Yes, he can't be a 1 on 5 guy anymore, but I couldn't imagine him anywhere else.

Time to put (and keep) him in the starting lineup for the rest of the series and then do the same thing next year!

Look at the situation he was put in games 1-4. He's the ONLY player out there for Miami to load up on and he's trying to either take quick pg's off the dribble or shoot over the bigs on the switch. Tonight, he was put in a situation to be successful. He's not the only focus of Miami's defense, he has guys around him who can drive/shoot/pass and he's so much more effective. Yes, he can't be a 1 on 5 guy anymore, but I couldn't imagine him anywhere else.

Time to put (and keep) him in the starting lineup for the rest of the series and then do the same thing next year!

S

Ding Ding Ding!
We have a winner!!

__________________NO D, NO RING!!!!
With 26 points on 4 of 4 shots from distance in only 20 minutes of PT. Efficient eviceration.
Wolves' fan: ginobili vs. the wolves is like he's just kind of laughing to himself all game...kind of like he thinks it's cute that they're trying to play basketball.[email protected]

The only issue I had with him the first four games was his decision making. He would kill possessions early in the shot clock with ill-advised 3 pointers. Today we saw Manu not only against better matchups, but also much more aggressive as well as more discerning on hist shot selection.

Great game from MANU, but you guys make it more about a player now and not a team! This is a team and I want this team to win a title, not to up a thread about a player here or there after a game! Time to win this as a team and forget about little personal grudges and this or that and move on from that. It seems some can't do that though!

Bigger issue here, grow up at times.

__________________
Win or lose this is a game -
You could let it pick your brain for weeks and months, just replay it over and over, won't do you any good at all. When someone loses a loved one and they do that it only brings forth anguish. I feel acceptance is sometimes the key, it happened, now you have to react to it. Giving up is not an option.

He played well, no denying that. I think the "haters" as some call them only want consistency. Manu has had 1 great or impactful game in each series of the this years playoffs. Last night was a great game by Manu. Lets see if he can have two... I have my doubts but would love a second helping of crow come Wednesday morning.

He played well, no denying that. I think the "haters" as some call them only want consistency. Manu has had 1 great or impactful game in each series of the this years playoffs. Last night was a great game by Manu. Lets see if he can have two... I have my doubts but would love a second helping of crow come Wednesday morning.

+1

Most of the 'haters' believe that the day after he retires we'd love to see his jersey hung from the rafters, I personally think he's a lock for the HOF, just because folks criticize his performance doesn't make them haters, it makes them people who want the absolute BEST for the franchise and up to last night's game he wasn't giving his best.

__________________
Since you can't fix stupid, at least you should be able to prosecute it!

Most of the 'haters' believe that the day after he retires we'd love to see his jersey hung from the rafters, I personally think he's a lock for the HOF, just because folks criticize his performance doesn't make them haters, it makes them people who want the absolute BEST for the franchise and up to last night's game he wasn't giving his best.

+1

Manu is my favorite player of all time next to Larry Bird.

But if he deserves criticism, he should get it.

Right now he deserves praise. Let's hope he deserves some more praise on Tuesday night.

__________________
I am never coming back to SpursReport because Will The Thrill is a horses ass.

If Manu does it again for the win, I swear I will never say anything negative him about him again, even when he pisses me off.

I have that feeling we will be getting manu games 1-4. I love manu, and would NEVER want to see him in another uniform.... I just get that feeling. I was hoping some others on here were more optimistic and could provide me with a glimmer of hope.

I have that feeling we will be getting manu games 1-4. I love manu, and would NEVER want to see him in another uniform.... I just get that feeling. I was hoping some others on here were more optimistic and could provide me with a glimmer of hope.

It's about consistency. Tim is no longer the 23 and 12 guy but he is still solid and sound. Everyone appreciates what Manu has meant to the franchise. No shame in that. However, at this point in time, he does more harm more often than he does good. Sad but true.
Father Time is undefeated!!

It's about consistency. Tim is no longer the 23 and 12 guy but he is still solid and sound. Everyone appreciates what Manu has meant to the franchise. No shame in that. However, at this point in time, he does more harm more often than he does good. Sad but true.
Father Time is undefeated!!

His turnovers are really silly, he's passing the freaking ball directly to the Heat players, or he's dribbling off somebody's legs, his shot and game is gone, gone, gone and the fact that the Spurs don't have anybody else who can facilitate and run the offense is just plain silly.

Tony can't be expected to outplay James by himself and Pop is too stubborn to change his approach.

__________________
Since you can't fix stupid, at least you should be able to prosecute it!

everytime manu touched the ball, it was like basically saying, here you go miami, take the ball.
and yet we kept doing it. lol.
#dumb.
theres one thing to stick w/ people but when u got the lead and the game in your hand, why would u have a turnover machine handling the ball. nice coaching.

Here we are....admiring the master chit, I mean piece, from our MVP (Tony) and our Finals MVP (Green).
They played impressive!!!! Never seen a dbl disappearing act so good. It's like Houdini meets Kris Angel.
Where is the criticism? Guess we r all biased

__________________NO D, NO RING!!!!
With 26 points on 4 of 4 shots from distance in only 20 minutes of PT. Efficient eviceration.
Wolves' fan: ginobili vs. the wolves is like he's just kind of laughing to himself all game...kind of like he thinks it's cute that they're trying to play basketball.[email protected]

Here we are....admiring the master chit, I mean piece, from our MVP (Tony) and our Finals MVP (Green).
They played impressive!!!! Never seen a dbl disappearing act so good. It's like Houdini meets Kris Angel.
Where is the criticism? Guess we r all biased

Well let;s see, Tony had James draped over him for most of the night, so Manu was supposed to be out there to relieve him of some of the pressure, to be the 3rd part of the BIG 3, Green is in his first finals of any significance and had defenders draped all over him, had his worse game (3 points, 4 rebounds, 1 turnover, -12 point differential), so of the starting 5 that leaves Tim (30 points, 17 rebounds 2 turnovers, +16 point differential), Kawhi (22 points, 11 rebounds, 0 turnovers, +11 Point Differential) and your man Manu (9 points, 4 rebounds, 8 turnovers, 4 fouls, -21 point differential)...

so yes everyone is biased, except for the numbers, they only speak the truth and the truth is that Manu hasn't played well consistently for a long, long, long time and a lot of folks still look at him as some kind of savior and he's not and hasn't been for awhile and IMHO if he had stepped up, the Spurs would be celebrating a championship, not trying to figure out how to rebound and hopefully capture game 7

It's time for some folks to take the blinders off and recognize Manu for what he is, a 36 year old guard who plays with reckless abandon and who no longer can play with any type of consistency.

__________________
Since you can't fix stupid, at least you should be able to prosecute it!

Here we are....admiring the master chit, I mean piece, from our MVP (Tony) and our Finals MVP (Green).
They played impressive!!!! Never seen a dbl disappearing act so good. It's like Houdini meets Kris Angel.
Where is the criticism? Guess we r all biased

Tony didn't shoot well, but he made two clutch shots at the end of regulation that should have won it, had 8 assists and more importantly no turnovers. Danny Green was also covered extremely well, as the Heat said they would do.

Manu had a great impressive D on Lebron and 2 massive rebs in OT. Where is the love?
Danny Green lost so many defensive assignments I lost count. On BSPN en EspaÃ±ol they joke about how lost he looks on D, always. And couldn't make a shot to save his life. And him with a couple of penetrations he tried just bleh
The only players who really brought it beyond anyone's expectations were TD, Diaw and to some degree, Kawhi.
However when the chips went down it was Manu guarding Lebron and Manu penetrating for the last shot. We can discuss if he was fouled or not, or talk about refs inconsistency.

__________________NO D, NO RING!!!!
With 26 points on 4 of 4 shots from distance in only 20 minutes of PT. Efficient eviceration.
Wolves' fan: ginobili vs. the wolves is like he's just kind of laughing to himself all game...kind of like he thinks it's cute that they're trying to play basketball.[email protected]

Manu had a great impressive D on Lebron and 2 massive rebs in OT. Where is the love?
Danny Green lost so many defensive assignments I lost count. On BSPN en EspaÃ±ol they joke about how lost he looks on D, always. And couldn't make a shot to save his life. And him with a couple of penetrations he tried just bleh
The only players who really brought it beyond anyone's expectations were TD, Diaw and to some degree, Kawhi.
However when the chips went down it was Manu guarding Lebron and Manu penetrating for the last shot. We can discuss if he was fouled or not, or talk about refs inconsistency.

He had 2 rebounds, but he handed the ball to the Heat two times in OT also. And if Manu was on Lebron, it was on a switch, not by choice. Danny Green may have lost an assignment or two, but his defense is light years better than Manu's. Danny Green has prevented countless fast break dunks by Lebron. Danny Green was pretty much Finals MVP up until yesterday.

I'll extend my generous offer to game 7, if he plays like he did in game 5 and they win, I will never say anything negative about him ever again. But just know that I predicted this about Manu 3 years ago when they signed him to that ridiculous contract, and he was inconsistent then too.

One of the problems with blind admiration for a player is that it's hard to acknowledge that they've reached the end of their career. Those who believe he's still the player he was 5 years ago will never admit that he's not and that he just can't bring it on a consistent basis any longer.

It's like that song 'You're always 17 in your hometown', in the eyes of those who worship Manu, he'll never be a source of the Spurs failures, it's always the fault of someone else, that he did everything he could to win the game and he wasn't given the support he needed....

So I say we just blame everyone else and quit picking on Manu, it's not fair..

__________________
Since you can't fix stupid, at least you should be able to prosecute it!

I'm not down on Anyone but Manu for a poor game because it's the exception to the norm. I wasn't too high on Manu after game 5 because it was the exception to the norm. His 8 turnovers, choking on a game clinching ft, falling down instead of guarding Allen on that 3 at the end (among many other blown defensive assignments) and a -21 point differential are now to be expected. Manu's poor and inconsistent play has given The heat 3 wins.

When great wing players get older and lose a step, they develop an outside shot. Look at Kobe. Sure he can sometimes take the slower players off the dribble but his points have shifted from the paint to the wing. Manu hasn't developed that shot. He keeps trying to drive against players that are faster or just as fast and the results are usually bad.

If Manu wants to come back next season, I wouldn't be against it but he would have to take a HUGE pay cut. We need a backup pg and can't rely on manu for that anymore. We can rely on him to be a great teammate and benchwarmer while making us pull out our hair in amazement and/or frustration at least twice a game.

If I were pop, I'd play Manu for 4 mins in the first half. If he's on, I'd let him play until he ran out of gas. As soon as he turned the ball over, jacked up an ill-advised shot or blew a defensive assignment, i'd pull him and tell him I'm sorry but you just don't have it. If he played well in the first half I'd give him another shot in 2nd with the same restrictions.

Speaking of pop, is it just me or has he gone soft? In the old days he'd be mean when he had to answer questions between quarters. Now he's tolerable. He also used to pull players when they were playing too wild, now he ignores when Manu is playing like crap.

Manu had a great impressive D on Lebron and 2 massive rebs in OT. Where is the love?
Danny Green lost so many defensive assignments I lost count. On BSPN en EspaÃ±ol they joke about how lost he looks on D, always. And couldn't make a shot to save his life. And him with a couple of penetrations he tried just bleh
The only players who really brought it beyond anyone's expectations were TD, Diaw and to some degree, Kawhi.
However when the chips went down it was Manu guarding Lebron and Manu penetrating for the last shot. We can discuss if he was fouled or not, or talk about refs inconsistency.

8 turnovers. That's where the love is.

Face it, if Manu hadn't played Game 6, we'd be champions right now. I love him, too, but he was god-awful that game. A true fan can acknowledge when their favorite player has a bad game, they don't blindly worship every **** they take.

U r right. I'm wrong. I've never met greater fans and supporters than you guys
May be I don't like unjust stuff and I don't put up with that in real life either.
As a fan of the gm I've come to realize that most that happens on a game and with a player has to do with the coach's game plan.
Pop took a gamble establishing TD early with all those plays. He expected Tony and Manu and Green to be highly contained. Unluckily it backfired.
Again Miami trapped the handler. Manu had many TOs becoz of that,; he tried to pass. TP had lesser TOs coz he didn't lose the dribble but on the other hand, didn't pass much. Spent most of the time dribbling around the 3 pt line and hardly ever penetrated or created for others.
Problem with the strategy: our 3 pt shooters need rhythm. That's how Green and Neal were so ineffective.
Manu might have lost a step or all of them. If he needs to retire I don't care. He has already retired from the NT. There was no one here accusing him of cheating on us. He made a decision. We respected that and he will always be loved here. We don't change our minds even though he hasn't been as great as we were used to in the last Intl tournies. But again, our NT plays team ball first in the games, minds and souls.
No player loses by himself.
Keep blaming Manu. You remind me to those who lose a pet carelessly with no ID tag and blame it for running away and call it traitor.

__________________NO D, NO RING!!!!
With 26 points on 4 of 4 shots from distance in only 20 minutes of PT. Efficient eviceration.
Wolves' fan: ginobili vs. the wolves is like he's just kind of laughing to himself all game...kind of like he thinks it's cute that they're trying to play basketball.[email protected]

U r right. I'm wrong. I've never met greater fans and supporters than you guys
May be I don't like unjust stuff and I don't put up with that in real life either.
As a fan of the gm I've come to realize that most that happens on a game and with a player has to do with the coach's game plan.
Pop took a gamble establishing TD early with all those plays. He expected Tony and Manu and Green to be highly contained. Unluckily it backfired.
Again Miami trapped the handler. Manu had many TOs becoz of that,; he tried to pass. TP had lesser TOs coz he didn't lose the dribble but on the other hand, didn't pass much. Spent most of the time dribbling around the 3 pt line and hardly ever penetrated or created for others.
Problem with the strategy: our 3 pt shooters need rhythm. That's how Green and Neal were so ineffective.
Manu might have lost a step or all of them. If he needs to retire I don't care. He has already retired from the NT. There was no one here accusing him of cheating on us. He made a decision. We respected that and he will always be loved here. We don't change our minds even though he hasn't been as great as we were used to in the last Intl tournies. But again, our NT plays team ball first in the games, minds and souls.
No player loses by himself.
Keep blaming Manu. You remind me to those who lose a pet carelessly with no ID tag and blame it for running away and call it traitor.

You're not wrong for being a fan of Manu and only Manu, but people are calling it blind admiration for a reason. No one made Manu make bad passes or miss shots. The coach doesn't have Manu connected to an Xbox controller and playing him on the sidelines. And the Miami defense has made a point to shut down the penetration lanes and to shut down Danny Green. There were open shots that were missed. That's not on the coaching either. I'm not placing full blame on Manu, because the Spurs needed to make some shots, but if he just commits 2 or 3 less turnovers, that would have helped them win. They just needed him to be -18 instead of -22 when he was on the court. And no one expected such a dramatic drop in play after game 5, well, some of us did.

I wonder how do you measure my Spursism or Manuism...
U think I'm blind, I think u r blind.
We have a tie. Sort of.

__________________NO D, NO RING!!!!
With 26 points on 4 of 4 shots from distance in only 20 minutes of PT. Efficient eviceration.
Wolves' fan: ginobili vs. the wolves is like he's just kind of laughing to himself all game...kind of like he thinks it's cute that they're trying to play basketball.[email protected]

Don't get me wrong, I love Manu. But this is not Manu. It's kinda like watching MJ when he came back and played for the wizards. Yes its him out there but something is off. I wish him the best and hopes he has a fantastic game, the spurs end up winning and he retires. He deserves to go out on top.

The HEAT TEAM played a little more chippy and won it. Spurs came up short.

We can all sit here and criticize all Spurs players because I saw all of them break mentally down the stretch on Defense and Offense.

To be fair I think Pop made the best of who he has!!!!!!!!!!

Pop played TP and had to rest Tony so he put Manu to run the ball.
I would not think we wanted anyone else but Manu doing that.

If Pop put Neal or Green he would have had more Turn overs than Manu did.

It is a very tough position and Pop made the best of what he had.

Give Miami some credit. They played pressure defense in the fourth quarter at the best. Although they got a lot of luck since Tony Parker was obviously GASSED at the end of the game. and inexperienced LEONARD and GREEN had HUGE mistakes down the stretch .....But Pop had no one else to put but those guys.

Manu tried real hard, he played great defense and the HEAT were pressuring the ball handler at the end of that game.

Don't get me started on few of the refs not calling any calls for Manu while he got MOGGED and TP and a lot of our Spurs.

But if I were Pop I would still stick with the BIG THREE including MANU to win us game 7.

What I would suggest that Pop and his staff find a solution to either play a back up PG maybe DIAW or Joseph but Tony needed to be rested and come strong at the second half only......

Manu will save us game 7!

I am not giving up on Manu despite the 8 turn overs. Those turn overs so far are CONSISTENTLY committed by both teams this entire series because of lack of PG plays and other team's defensive schemes.

LBJ was saying he was not happy at the end of the game 2 turnovers at the OT so LBJames ended up with 6 turnovers!!:shocked That was Horrible.

Give Manu a break. I LOVE Manu and he brought such intensity that was needed. Maybe Pop gives the Ball to Diaw to handle as back up PG now or Joseph.

Manu will PLAY BEST at SG as he did in game 5 and Spurs won.
Manu will play much better game 7 because I am sure Pop will have someone else handle the rock when Tony is resting.

Don't give up on Manu. The entire Spurs team were GASSED in the end of the 4th and OT. All Spurs players were challenged when refs stopped calling the right calls and no time out... Combination of so many things got to make this outcome. Pop needs to realize that Tony will not be able to play 48 minutes and Manu is not our answer for back up PG!!!!!!!!